


Phantom Pain

by kibasniper



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Bruises, Confrontations, F/F, Ficlet, Self-Worth Issues, Tumblr Prompt, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibasniper/pseuds/kibasniper
Summary: Asuka knows there is something off about Rei on their way to school. Finding out proves easier than expected, but the true reasoning behind Rei's bruises continues to elude her.
Relationships: Ayanami Rei & Souryuu Asuka Langley, Ayanami Rei/Souryuu Asuka Langley
Kudos: 27





	Phantom Pain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FreezingKaiju](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezingKaiju/gifts).



> requested by freezing-kaiju who asked for asurei with the prompt "Are you hurt?” “No.” “Then why are there bruises all over your face?” from a sentence starter prompt list on tumblr. after an edit, i realized this could be read as either romantic or platonic, so i tagged it as both.

Asuka huffed and gripped her hips. She arched a neatly plucked brow, stiffing her lips and leering over at Rei. She circled around her like a predator on the prowl. With her heel clacking on the cheap tiles, she leaned forward and demanded, “Are you hurt?”

Rei tilted her head. It seemed she always ended up in strange situations involving elevators and Asuka. It was as if fate decreed they would always have some sort of peculiar communication in close quarters. As the elevator descended to the foyer of NERV Headquarters, she touched her cheek. Although it throbbed, she said, “No.”

Curling her lip, she itched her shoulder through the sleeve of her school uniform. She narrowed her eyes, her gaze half-lidded. Her inspection was swift and thorough, taking in every detail of her fellow pilot’s snow white complexion and iron-pressed outfit. 

To the untrained eye, Rei seemed perfect. Her school uniform lacked a single wrinkle. Her short hair was neatly combed. With her chapstick applied, she did not have a single crack in her lips. She smelled like cheap citrus, the dollar store kind which Asuka had also used on rare occasions when she left her favored German brands at home. No trace of sleepiness touched her face, unlike the Third Child who tended to wear the black bags underneath his eyes like badges of honor.

Asuka swiped her thumb along her tongue. A trail of saliva dribbled down, which immediately caught Rei’s attention. As Rei tightened her grip on her book bag, Asuka pivoted on her heels, her smirk almost contagious. Asuka lunged forward, her thumb like a bullet as it struck Rei’s cheek, and although Rei tried twisting to the side, Asuka’s thumb wiped off what she needed to prove her theory.

“Then why are there bruises all over your face?” Asuka sneered, the white concealer smearing between her thumb and forefinger when she pinched them together.

Her thumb had cut a clean line through Rei’s face. Shock burned in her scarlet eyes, contrasting with the paleness on her cheeks. Under her powdery mask were deep blue and violet marks. In the slash Asuka created, they stretched across the span of her face from the tip of her sharp chin to her long brow, her shock doing away with her neutrality.

Asuka wiped the residue on her blouse. The hum of the elevator filled her ears and silenced her thoughts. Reaching forward, she dug her fingernails into Rei’s shoulder and squeezed, not harshly enough to draw blood, but just enough to empower her.

“How’d you get them? Who hurt you?” she asked, lowering her voice.

Rei did not swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She remained poised, her back impossibly straight compared to the hunched position Asuka took when she had moved towards her. She felt her thumb flutter against her pulse, which seemed to press against the strip of skin known as her neck, and taking in a deep breath through her nose, she expelled her impurities through her mouth right into Asuka’s face.

“My solo mission did not go as planned. Since it does not concern you in the first place, you don’t need to know anything more.” She closed her eyes. “In the end, I’m okay. That is what should matter to us.”

The ding of the elevator interjected before Asuka could speak, alerting them that they had arrived. She twisted around Asuka, her book bag nudging into Asuka’s thigh on her way out. She refused to look back, ignoring the palpitations in her face and focusing on the cracked asphalt on the road leading to school. Her right cheek twinged, curling her lip upwards, but she reset it as usual, and she stored the altercation in a crevice of her memory, hoping it would fade from the forefront of her thoughts. (After all, Gendo told her what needed to be done, so it was done. Nothing more needed to be said to someone who was not a part of the mission he gifted to her.)

Asuka lingered despite the elevator doors trying to shut on her. She stayed even when they threatened to cleave her in half. Snorting, Asuka rubbed her face, wondering if she, too, had blue marks dotting her complexion.

Closing her eyes, Asuka marched out and left NERV behind. Reo was still too impossible to fully understand, bordering on mechanical, but it seemed even machines could bleed. Rei was really human as she expected, and underneath the hot sunlight as Rei continued moving farther away, Asuka noticed that she seemed to glow, ignoring how her heart seized up with worry.


End file.
